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Dublin officals given run of Stormont

Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-

“Though the internal governmental arrangements for Northern Ireland are supposed to be solely a UK issue – being a ‘strand one’ matter – I have established through Assembly Questions that during the recent round of political negotiations 5 officials from the Dublin Government were issued with passes to give them unfettered access to Parliament Buildings, Stormont. Why?

“By AQW 60/17-22 I established 14 passes had been issued to persons “involved in the negotiations”. Now, by AQW 75/17-22 I have established that 5 of the 14 issued to Dublin officials.

“Given the supposed adherence to the sanctity of Strand One issues unionist participants, in particular, need to explain why in the negotiations in which they were involved Dublin officials were given the run of Stormont. It is clear from the response to AQW 60/17-22 that these were not mere ‘day passes’ for a specific purpose, but appear to still be extant. Rather, this indicates the embedding of Dublin officials in the talks process.

“Since the issuing of passes lies under the control of the Assembly Commission, which contains representatives of DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP, UUP and Alliance, I am calling on those representing Unionism – who publicly assure us that the restoration of an Executive is a Strand One issue – to explain why political sanction was given to facilitate interlopers from Dublin meddling in the talks process.”